Reviews of anything and everything worth watching on TV or reading in books...

Sunday, 19 August 2012

The Space Museum

The Space Museum is
actually a very interesting concept, and one which is pivotal to Doctor Who in general.Whilst the idea of interfering in the natural
progression of time is one which has briefly been referenced in a number of
other serials – notably the historicals, and particularly The Aztecs – it has always been the history of others, their past
or future, which have been messed with; in sci-fi serials it is the status quo
for the team to meddle and interfere, but in this, it is essential that they
do, as it is their own fate which is at risk.

This serial is regularly criticised by much of fandom, and
for some valid reason – it is a little slow, and a little messy, and a
little... well, boring, in parts.But
that is sort of the point.It is
precisely for this reason that the serial works at all – that, and a corking
first episode, of course.

From the creepy cliffhanger at the end of The Crusade, this serial kicks off with
a number of bizarre incidents similar to those of The Edge of Destruction – strange noises and camera angles create a
tense environment where water glasses can jump back into your hands complete
after smashing on the floor, and the crew end up redressed by invisible
forces.Throughout, the Doctor is rather
non-committal about it all, and the use of stock music fits well with the
jarring incidents.The direction on
episode 1 is particularly good, using abstract angles and sweeping movements to
disorientate.

The central premise of this first instalment is fascinating –
having somehow jumped a timetrack, the crew are invisible to the environment in
which they find themselves, leaving no footprints, and unable to interact with
anything (sort of – but more on that later!)The model work on the Space Museum itself is magnificent – and the
painting of the set flats to create a disjointed, abstract look is equally
brilliant, although the effect is diminished somewhat by the shadows of the
actors proving that it is only a one-dimensional flat painted to look 3D.

As the crew make their way through endless corridors,
looking at strange exhibitions and avoiding the Moroks trooping the place,
there is a strange sense of déjà vu – each room looks identical, simply with
different artefacts and exhibits on show.The scene in which they pass through the TARDIS is genuinely shocking and
rather haunting – the staple idea of cutting the crew off from the ship to
force them to participate in events is a cliché now, but here it is reused to
great effect;they cannot interact with
anything, let alone something as secure and known as the ship.Sadly, there is a lack of consistency to this
too – when Barbara hides behind a mannequin, the whole thing wobbles
tremendously, showing that they can interact with some things, just not the
ones which are input via technical skill!

The cliffhanger is brilliant too – when the crew discover
themselves, frozen in exhibit cases, embalmed and left there forever to be
gawked at by aliens, it is terrifically unnerving, although quite why it takes
them so long to spot them is beyond me.As they gradually catch up with themselves, and the exhibits fade, and
footprints appear, the look on Hartnell’s face is wonderful – “we’ve arrived!”

Episode 2 is where the story begins to lose its way, though –
once we have been introduced to the Moroks, and later the Xerons, it is
difficult to remain engaged.The Moroks
are a bunch of petty administrators and curators, running the museum as a way
of proving their ability as leaders, but bored of the monotony of it all.The Xerons are even worse, though – they are
too ineffective to do anything, referred to as “rebels” despite their inaction,
and not even deemed worth oppressing properly by the Moroks.Both races are seen as ineffective,
pointless.One side gloats over past
victories, while the other sit around, not doing anything.It is boring – yet that is precisely the
point.The serial works as a satire, to
some extent, of totalitarian regime, and what happens once that regime has
forced itself upon others.The
staleness, and the monotony, are integral to the plot.There are some rather basic costume
decisions, which are frankly slapdash, which do not help to engage the audience
– it is a simple case of white versus black (albeit inverted) which is even
commented on by the Xerons.The dialogue
in the opening scene with Lobos, the governor of Xeros, feels rather stilted
and uninspired – he moans about boredom, forcing information into his
exposition for the audience’s sake, is dreadfully dull.

There is an interesting moment in episode 2 which baffles me.Ian stands by, goading Barbara and Vicki as
they lift a heavy glass case up from around a gun.Quite why the women are doing the heavy
lifting is not discussed.It seems like
an odd directorial decision to have made – just one of the many, of course.

The scene in which the Xerons capture the Doctor – before promptly
losing him again – is another oddity, and one which doesn’t seem to sit right
with me either.The way in which the
Doctor hides inside the Dalek casing seems tasteless, somehow.Whilst Ian did the same thing in The Daleks back when the series was
first finding its feet, for the Doctor to do the same thing, after the Daleks
had been established as recurring foes seems strange.

What this episode does well, thanks to Jones’ writing, is
discusses one of the key themes of the series – the concept of time travel and
the repercussions of it.Whilst they are
endeavouring to do all that they can to prevent the future happening, it
questions whether they could change it anyway.The conversation in episode 4 is striking for this very reason.There is a sense of predestination
throughout, although an eagle eyed viewer – such as myself, and no doubt many
of you reading this – would notice very quickly that the future has been
changed from the very outset anyway.Whilst the 4 bodies in the museum were on screen, it was quite obvious
that Ian had all of the buttons on his jacket.In episode 2, when he loses a button, it is surely a sign that they are
no longer predestined for the same thing. Likewise, and even more glaringly, the idea to
use Barbara’s cardigan to leave a trail also proves that the future has been
changed – the display case-Barbara had her cardigan on, yet here Ian iis
chewing his way through it to create a loose thread.

Episode 3 suffers mildly from Hartnell’s absence – after being
carted off for ‘treatment’ at the end of episode 2, he is away on holiday here,
only appearing in the episode reprise at the beginning, framed with wonderfully
atmospheric lighting.Where the episode
is great, though, is in the relationship between Ian and his unwilling Morok
assistant, played by Peter Diamond.Diamond
had a similarly wonderful relationship with Ian in The Romans, where he appeared as the faithful Delos, assisting Ian
in his efforts to recapture Barbara from Nero.Here, though, the relationship is taken in a different way; this
cowardly Morok guard seems to genuinely revel in assisting Ian, subtly, and one
gets the impression that it is because he is, for once, being proactive and
doing something, even if it is the
opposite of his orders!

Also fantastic about this serial is Vicki’s role in
everything that occurs – never before has Maureen O’Brien been able to showcase
herself so much, always having to play second fiddle to Hartnell, or giggling
awkwardly with Barbara.Here, though,
she is the principle cause for events to have changed so dramatically.Once captured by the Xerons, she leads them
to become genuine revolutionaries, as opposed to the ‘rebels’ with a cause but
without action we saw earlier on.The
scene in which she tricks the computer is so ridiculous that I can’t help but
love it – but it does, once more, reinforce the uselessness of the Xerons.

Along with the wonderful lighting in Lobos’ office with
Hartnell in the recap, there is also the lovely scene in which Barbara hides
from her pursuers in a room, where she is framed by mannequins.Also effective is the slow-fade to black,
before cross-fading back up to show the passage of time – this wasn’t a
recording break, which are usually signposted by these blackouts.Rather, it is a clever directorial decision,
which allows Jacqueline Hill the time to slump further down and mess her hair
up a bit.It is a lovely, tense scene –
until it is ruined for us at home when we see the colour of the uniform of the
searcher, whereby proving that Barbara is in no genuine danger.For someone with such an eye for creepy
shadows and abstract lighting decisions, Pinfield fails miserably at ratcheting
up any kind of tension.Indeed, when the
Xeron finds Barbara, he says “you can see we’re nothing like them” – and again,
it is such a simple statement;they wear
black, but the Moroks wear white.It is
similar in tone to the episode in The
Sensorites where they all ‘look the same’.

Once again, though, a bug-bear I have with this serial is
that it is, once again, a retread of the storyline which we have seen since the
second serial, The Daleks.Oppressors being overthrown by the oppressed,
an alien race being led to rebellion by the TARDIS crew.It is becoming a little staid and clichéd now.

Episode 4 starts with a reshoot of the cliffhanger from
episode 3 – and again, this loses a great deal of the tension.Whereas before, Ian was staring almost
directly into the camera, shocked at what is off-screen (the Doctor, treated),
on the second take, even William Russell can’t seem to create any real drama in
his tone of voice.Most of the acting in
this fourth episode is rather uninspired, a little ‘acting-by-numbers’, as we
wind up to the predictable conclusion that the crew will be fine, that they
save the day and escape.What this
serial does different to others, which is rather refreshing, although not
realistic considering their allies, is that the crew do end up captured, but it is the Xerons who save them.Whilst the crew have been proactively trying
to change history, and by doing so avoid becoming exhibits, they have actually
played right into the cases – every step they took to change their fate has
inexorably led to their capture.It is
Vicki, however, who has saved them – by pushing the Xerons to do something –
anything – it has meant that the Moroks are overthrown and the crew can
escape.There is a sense of
predestination throughout which is lovely – although, as I said earlier, the
change in costume for Ian and Barbara proved that history had changed anyhow.

All in all, whilst this is slow-paced and averagely
performed, there are some wonderful things to enjoy.If we take the entire serial as a satirical
look at the boredom which comes from totalitarian regimes, it works.If you look at it as an exploration of the
ramifications of time travel, it works.If, however, you’re looking for it to be a fast-paced action adventure...
well, you know...

About Me

Scott Edwards is a teacher of English and Theatre Studies, with a BAHons in English Literature and Film Studies.He is also a self-professed ‘ming-mong’, and is now going to return to some Classic Doctor Who.